I have taken to calling our current world condition the First Global Guerrilla War (GGW1). . . where, to greater good or ill, the rules of engagement are non-existent, the front line does not exist, there is no “enemy” or “ally”, there are no protocols being followed, thus leaving an open door to chaos. Chaos is the genesis of all things. It is a full void, in which all the elements of creation exist, but are not coherent. As time evolves, the chaos begins to form small complexes of “order” (Gk. cosmos) and coherence, which constellate around a focus, self-generating a new formation of the old system. We live in a self-generating universe, and thus, each of us, and the whole of the cosmos are in continual reformation, or revolution.

Today, we are far from a new order, far from a “day in which it will all be organized” . . . and deep in the mystery of metamorphosis. And, because no moment is ever like another, we have neither model nor memory-chain to guide us. It is a rich time for astrology, philosophy, sociology, ideology and other human/social orientated thinking, but it is alarming to our limbic brain . . . our emotional non-verbal brain. And, it is “interesting times”, for sure.

In the Canadian national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, columnist James Bradshaw writes: “Political Science Professor Wayne Cox, at Queen’s University at Kingston, “ . . . feels compelled to set aside the planned material for his four-year seminar Conflict and Peace in the Middle East, in favor of a free-ranging discussion on what caused the unrest in Egypt, as the political landscape is remade before the world’s eyes . . .” Bradshaw continues to quote Prof. Cox, What they [political scientists] are encountering seems to Prof. Cox, “quite un-orderable” and further, “. . . what happens when the collected wisdom of text books can’t keep pace with a permanent geopolitical shift in the making?”

Prof. Cox opens his unprogrammed three-hour seminar with the question: “What is it about this particular time, in this particular place that has made a social movement that has remarkable persistence just suddenly emerge?”

The answer: we look to astrology for the analysis and details of otherwise unaccountable events and currents.

Metahistory of Egypt
Let’s reflect back to the Age of Taurus – the Bronze Age (ruled by Venus) (Circa 4320- 2160 BCE) – when Egypt was the peak of innovation for that Epoch, when she became the centre of the world, and the source of all knowledge – and multiplicity of races, languages, intelligence and global (at the time) power. In the Republic of Egypt horoscope we are using, note that Venus is in the sign of Taurus, and rising in the first house.

In Mundane astrology, the first house is the representation of the country itself, its personhood, and, “ . . . may represent the myths of a nation, its image and self-image, national characteristics, and to an extent, the nature of the State. In terms of the evolution of the State we could perhaps take this house as representing the original society which existed before the state was formed.”

This was the time of the Sumerian, Babylonian and Mesopotamian rise of the matrilineal intellectual genius of the archaic world . . . from them we have writing, books, mathematics, agriculture, metallurgy – alloying copper and zinc to make brass and bronze – archaeology, architecture, water-systems, plumbing, irrigation, and so on - all dating back at least to 3,200 BCE.

A form of organized sky surveying was practiced and perfected, ultimately resulting in the emergence of oracular astrology out of Ancient Mesopotamia-Babylon with the Venus Tablets – in parallel time emerged the Maya Civilization (also Venusian ruled – its calendar based on the stations and the Synodic conjunctions of Venus and are, to this day, deadly accurate in mundane/political prediction, as we shall see in a bit). We continue to ride the wave of the crest of Egyptian/Sumerian/Babylonian civilization.

How Egypt has been known and perceived for over 5,000 years is mythic. From its floruit in the Age of Taurus, through today, it holds secrets and codes to vast bodies of knowledge and wisdom and is still studied avidly for arcane information. It built structures to last. Its funerary rituals include the dead who are still full-bodied and rich with information! And, according to the spirituality of the time, they reincarnate. The ancient Egyptians believed in things that last forever, and that you can take it with you, and you do come back.

For millennia, it has been a centre for civilizations, multiple civilizations, it has never been “gone” or disappeared, like its Sumerian and Babylonian sister cultures. It remains today a place of great romance, where every writer of note has gone to steep in its ethos. Alexandria, once the home of every ancient book from Greece and Rome, is a legendary city, which, even in times of the turn of the 20th century has held people in a trance.

It is an information zone, a place of the ancient origins of what we know as Western Civilization, which includes ancient tribes of Israel/Judaism, and most recently (622CE) Islam. All their gods are sons of Abraham, and as transcendent gods, hold a numinous grip in the collective psyche of the Age of Pisces. This age is coming to a close, and the heating up of the sky gods demands are being played out by their mortal minions in this long conversion phase of epochal transition.

Old gods go down hard, they do not willingly leave their posts, they employ all means of retaining their hierocracy, and at the transitional stage of every epochal change, this primordial “war” occurs.

If we look first at the national horoscope of The Republic of Egypt (Fig. 1), and the time of the “roar of the crowd”, Hosni Mubarak’s resignation for the transits to Egypt’s horoscope there are outstanding outer planet (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) transits in place. In these transits, one can hear that roar of the crowd as the 45-second announcement was made. This is not so much a story of a man whose time was up, but the story of a nation whose time has come. We will see both Pluto and Mars being both subtly and overtly playing a dominant role in the denouement of a thirty-year regime.

Looking at a national horoscope is a relatively ‘modern’ concept. Since we are now truly one mind, one network of nations, one world, there is a greater meaning to “the collective” than in earlier times when the astrology of nations was not incorporated – not seen as a natal horoscope.

Mike Harding says in Hymns to the Ancient Gods,
“As astrologers we must also recognize that certain charts, those of countries, moments of invention, powerful eclipses or famous individuals, interact with us also, no matter how poor their synastry with our own birth map or how far removed in time or circumstances they are from our own. One way or another we see how such moments live on within us and express themselves inexorably in our lives through transits to charts other than our own.
If we come to see that perhaps these charts are part of our own, are indeed part of our unconscious, then the phenomenon that we actually have observed time and time again becomes more comprehensible. If we view the planets and the zodiac as a map of the total collective experience of all things as well as a picture of the individual psyche as a reflection of all things, then we might begin to see how individuals can resonate with the past as well as the present [and the future – my words] In this way synastry could be seem to operate diachronously as well as synchronously; to take account of the past as cyclical history of an event or person [or country – my words], as well as what is happening now.”

Our global perspectives are changed – we know what the world is doing, and in real time. Thanks to the innovation of the communications networks and cyber technology – particularly in the last three decades of the 20th century, but phenomenally accelerated in this first decade of the 21st century. Human consciousness is synchronous with peaks of innovation, and global awareness – both have brought mundane astrology an enriched potential – it is truly a twenty-first century phenomenon, and has been enlivened by much work and research and focus on the subject. Thus, we are more connected consciously to global transits, and individuate them through our personal horoscopes.

Whether or not we are consciously aware that some of our “complexes or neuroses” are not personal, but are global, it is a real phenomenon. In the last many years, as I have grown to see this interactive dynamic, my astrology practice has been deeply involved with helping people separate out what is a “collective” anxiety and what is their personal anxiety – and, in turn, seeing themselves as both independent but also enmeshed with the world consciousness. Astrology is exceptional in counseling because it articulates the personal from the collective, while still keeping the integrity of the whole person. The ethos of a culture is as tangible and evident as is the psychological mood of an individual.

It is not possible to assess a single moment in time without consideration of context. My diagram of culture contained in an epochal archetype or ethos based on precession of the equinoxes is the largest container (Fig. 2). It then is broken down into sub groupings – from the collective to the individual – for better understanding that every moment in time is based on the previous one and prepares for the next, and that we as individuals are a complex of a massive time span. A short study of this diagram with Egypt’s current situation in mind may help “place” the uprising in a context larger than an exciting newsworthy action. It is part of a long, eventful metamorphosis toward our future history on earth.

The Power of the Invisible

1: Pluto

The transit of Pluto has been in opposition to Egypt’s natal Mars at 3° 13’ Cancer three times over the last 2 years:

PLUTO
1. First opposition: Stationing Rx at 3° 18’ Capricorn April 2009:
2. Second direct pass: on December 2009, while Saturn was stationing retrograde January 14, 2010 within a degree orb. (Pluto stations Rx at 5° 25’ April 7/11).
3. Third Pass: During July and August 2010: In the first week of August, the major T-cross with Pluto at 3° in a T-square to the opposition of Saturn 0° Libra (with Mars) and Uranus at 0° Aries (with Jupiter)
4. Final Pass: Pluto stationed-direct at 2° 47’ Capricorn Sept 15, 2010, so it made it final pass to exactly oppose Egypt’s natal Mars on October 24, 2010.
(n.b. Pluto will retrograde back and station-direct on September 17, 2011 at 4° 53’ Capricorn. Which I will say is “in orb” so we they / we are not done yet).

The secondary progressed Sun is conjunct the progressed Pluto exactly this year.

In addition, Saturn made its final square to Egypt’s natal Mars August 24, 2010.

Taking into account that Mars is the Republic of Egypt’s traditional horoscope ruler, it being Aries rising, and that there is an overall theme of military threading through this “people’s revolt”, even to the most minor transits during the 18 day siege, we are probably looking at a military regime to come out of this time. The transit of Pluto has been slowly building its case, bringing to the surface fermenting seeds of political discontent in nations, tribes, collectives of all kinds. All the while, incrementally in stages, the mood of the greater whole rises to the surface - to irrupt into a unified consciousness of the people. Pluto is the guardian of mysterious and hidden aspects of life, and its transits are associated with the deconstruction of an outmoded system, and the reorganization of a country. This means we are still very much in the dark about the long-term outcome of this beginning. As mentioned in the beginning, there is no paradigm or model or pattern, however, a new individuated manifestation of an archetypal condition has arisen.

Not only is Pluto is a motif for ultimate political power but also an agency for the group mind, the masses and the underground forces that mobilize in secret sometimes without advance planning, and rises into the conscious mind as an event or idea. Hades is the ‘unseen one’ and the invisible, secreted aspects of society that lay silently, in gestation, waiting the appropriate time to rise. Pluto steals innocence and naivety away, and replaces it with stark reality. From there a resurrection can occur, but not before the theft or loss of power that Pluto represents when the capstone of a hierarchy is toppled.

Those who hold, deal in, hoard and control others by trading in the ‘treasury’ of the planet are Plutocrats. The resigned leader, Mubarak, apparently has done just that - the military rulers have requested that Britain and other European countries freeze assets held by members of Mubarak's former regime. On February 14th, Britain’s foreign secretary reported that European Union finance ministers are discussing the request and would freeze accounts if there were any evidence of illegality or misuse of state assets.
Pluto represents agencies hidden from the main populace in any society, such as secret police, subversive power, organized crime, military secrets, intramural governmental nepotism and terrorist cells. The phenomenon of social psychoses such as occur under dictatorships in morally undermined cultures or when people are trapped, held hostage or in some way “removed” from a familiar or protective frame of reference, is Plutonian in nature. The revelations that surface over the next weeks will alert the “unconscious” of other Arab nationals and begin a domino effect into play. In this way we see the playing out of what Harding says in the above quote: “If we view the planets and the zodiac as a map of the total collective experience of all things as well as a picture of the individual psyche as a reflection of all things, then we might begin to see how individuals can resonate with the past as well as the present.” And, also, what the future may hold, using a historical frame of reference, to the current situational transits.

In part, revolution can be a civilizing agent for nations, groups, tribes, and collectives of all types. It is through the revolutionary act that heresy becomes the status quo. Revolution requires all cultures and their peoples to examine their own individual and collective beliefs, codes and directives. Both Pluto, and as we shall see, Uranus, will play a major role in the rebirth of Egypt; and Neptune brings the vision of an Egyptian Ideal, the ideal of how they could form a democratic society based on their own unique style. It has only just begun, and this is what we are exploring here.

A revolution does not occur overnight, and this has been in foment for decades, BUT, the potential for irreversible massive upheaval that Pluto inherently contains, means its transit over the last five years to Egypt’s horoscope, has been the backdrop of the revolution of February 11, 2011 – which is now a powerful focus in the world.

In revolution, our greatest resources are “the people”. Egypt has the highest number of education unemployed in the world. Those individuals are a huge body within the whole of the country, and they are an unmined resource. Following that our resources to ‘invest’ are = freedom, time, love and money. The thing about “the People” is, what about “the Person”? Each person in this global experience is having his and her own unique self activated and enmeshed within an “agreement” of collusion with the mass mind. The transits of the day, the Zeitgeist of January 25th 2011, when individual people came to the streets, in a body, incorporated themselves into a unified whole, affected every single person on the planet. His or her psyche, lifestyle and, well, everything, is invested in an outcome which is a very personal need – one which is valid as it invests itself in the collective ferment.

With Pluto transiting opposite the Sun of the Republic of Egypt, that planet began its action long ago, when it passed back and forth, three times, Egypt’s natal Sun at 27° 23’ Gemini between April 2006 through September 2008 when it Stationed Direct at 28° 30’ Sagittarius. Much went on in secret during this time, and because it was a transit to Sun, the image of Egypt was becoming increasingly disassociated from its core Self.
Yes, the country has a Self, Ego, Persona, Id, Super-ego and the lot! With the secret transit of Pluto over its life force, libido, charisma, leadership, and its image to the world, it was in the last passing of Pluto square the Sun when the deep reservoir of discontent and rage began to find a common outlet . . . enter Pluto opposite Mars. Mars in 3° 13’ Cancer in Egypt’s third house, and relates trade, and the economy as a communally shared resource of the civilian population. A stable society needs the people within it to communicate, interact, trade, grow and move freely, speak openly and without fear.

Pluto opposite to Mars from the ninth house to the third and the opposition aspect is about “the other” – it reflects back on Egypt how it is seen by others. An opposition is a split conjunction and it ties in how other nations and foreign leaders view Egypt, and in turn, how Egypt in its own realm, experiences influential and powerful nations its “other”. Egypt’s revolution is a clarion to the world. Mundane ninth house is about the prevailing dogma, laws, in a country, and its network with other nations. It is also the house of orthodoxy in beliefs, systems of ritual, religious expression, religion itself, philosophies and how these abstract concepts are interactive with the world as it is in relation to the country – to Egypt. Thus, this uprising is about a new tribalism, a collective solidarity and a desire to burn the old and resurrect the core of tribal affinities in new forms. Egypt’s third house is the “youth culture” which now dominates the census (of the median age of the world itself) in Egypt and in Arabian countries.

The common idea of freedom of speech, democratic procedures as expressed through the Egyptian archetype, and money, work, fair wage, a “voice” in the say of their own lives is the demand. This is not going to move along without some violence, though the remarkable appearance of peaceful gathering in the beginning, actually held some horrible travesties toward foreign journalists, certain individuals and some small collectives. A Canadian journalist was sexually assaulted, beaten and held in public captivity for hours, for example. CBS News reported that chief foreign correspondent, Lara Logan, was separated from her coterie on February 11th, and was saved by a group of women and a few soldiers.

How has the world seen Egypt in the last few years? Perhaps not very clearly, due to focusing on “spectacle” rather than source. Since popular media in the USA and other ‘developed countries’ seems to train its biased eye only upon spectacle, we were not fully apprised, or perhaps even concerned about what Egypt has been doing to its civilians – to its general population.

Now that the underbelly of the thirty-year regime of Hosni Mubarak (whose Solar Ascendant horoscope is Fig. 3) – as he approaches his Uranus return. Thus, Uranus is about to transit his natal Uranus (it Stations retrograde at 4°34’ Aries in June 2010) as Pluto is also in a square to it – for five passes!

As the Head of State, with transiting Pluto squaring his natal Uranus during the entire uprising and his departure (and freezing of his Swiss resources as well as the European commission examining his fortunes!), addresses the investigation of hidden assets. With transiting Jupiter conjoining his natal Uranus (Feb 17 – 26), he may have a surprise in store for him if and when he needs to seek asylum or “friendly” support. He may discover that his hubris has not only offended his oppressed people, but also his politics may not be in agreement with his Arab affiliations. He may find that he has few friends, and his isolation from family, his own kind, could be absolute.

On behalf of the collective unconscious, the transit of Pluto has slowly, inexorably and ultimately awakened a deep rage in the hearts, minds and souls of the peoples of this composite ancient hieratic and modern country. Pluto hauls ‘up’ that which has reached a point of putrefaction due to its lack of fresh air, openness and space. There has been little of that for the impoverished, filth and sewage-laden hovels of the majority of Egyptians. Pluto does rule sewers and decay; organic matter and natural rot. Its atmosphere, interestingly enough, is primarily methane!

It was the youth who called this revolution, and it is the youth who are resonating to the separating square of Uranus to Pluto – whose insemination to revolution via youth culture occurred in 1966. That year is a watershed from which technology and the computer world is measured: before 1966 and after 1966! The Uranus Pluto cycles are about 127 years from conjunction to conjunction. We are in the “crisis in consciousness” (Rudhyar) phase of the first quarter square of Uranus to Pluto: this is a call to a generation of youth who are in full benefit from the 1966=70 youth revolution that swept the world and forever changed the consciousness of the planet. The kids born in the 1990’s are not getting the socio/economic benefits that (my) post WW2 youth generation had (and ate alive), BUT they do have all the knowledge in their neurological receptors to battle this crisis in consciousness and revolution in ideology.

In the natural zodiac, the third house is Mercurial (youth) and to do with communication networks, thus Egypt’s mundane contents speak of its methods of transportation, schools, literature, freedom of speech, “official” announcements, moving into contemporary areas such as television, postal services, newspapers, computer communications, social networks and open dialogue throughout all communication paths. (Facebook is attributed to the release of fear from the collective Egyptian consciousness by encouragement in vast numbers, and by one young woman sneaking about leaking information through internet/tele/video and so on!) In this way, the third house of Egypt represents its neighboring countries, and from there, how Egypt is “seen” in the realm of foreign affairs

2. Triggers of a Mars/Pluto Type:
There were small triggers to the Egyptian movement from January 25th to February 11th:

The transit of Saturn was motionless as our earth rotated to trigger it Stationary retrograde, in Egypt at 9:11 am on the 26th of January! When Saturn stations retrograde, it brings to a standstill the foundations of a country, bringing all systems in charge to a halt; in itself it is the seed of revolution. In fact, it was the Saturn station on the 27th when Mubarak extended the curfew to all of Egypt, not only in Cairo. In addition, by the 29th, fired his entire cabinet, but stood adamant, causing thousands to rebel, and fill the Tahrir Square to overflowing. The numbers would continue to grow, and over a million citizens in major cities of Egypt, all took part.

Thus, the rigidity and adamant stance that Saturn brings to astrological interpretation and manifestation. Saturn was pivoting at 17° 14’ Libra, on the 25th – 27th of January; and, it was pulling back from the approach to its second Saturn Return (n. Saturn is at 20° 34’ Libra), as if to say, “At this time I have planted the seed of discontent, stopped all normal activity; and brought to a halt all actions that are standard by law, creed and authority”.

With Saturn transiting Egypt’s 6th house, and heading to its return conjunct Neptune, there is a literal read out on that: civil service, soldiers and armies, employed people’s unions; disgruntled employees or the unemployed . . . too, the 6th house addresses the “health” of the body politic, the actual balance of the nation as a container for its soul, the people. The Saturn/Neptune conjunction in that house is an indication of socialism as an ideal, of a “free state” and one whose religious expression is contained by an authoritative body.

The lunation on Feb 3rd at 4:32 am in midst the “event” was the New Moon conjunct Mars at 13° Aquarius. This lunation was a warrior symbol, and the entire Egyptian uprising is laden with blatant Mars symbolism, from the red hats on the heads of the military, to the very fact that the military were supportive of the uprising, and very likely to their own purposes, all the action around the natal Mars, etc. . . . the military, militant, militia, madness, anger, rage, seeded and leading to the Sun/Mars conjunction between the 7th to the 11th of February, the date that Mubarak finally conceded his position.

On February 11th, transiting Sun/Mars in Aquarius was forming an opposition to Egypt’s Pluto at 21° Leo;, triggering the imagination and dreams of the people conjunct the actual repression of those, by the status quo (SA/NE); Mars at about 8 Aquarius, in the 10th house of “the party in power, the ruling class, the aristocracy” declared war on the government; Jupiter had just entered Aries on the 23rd, which harks back to November, 2010, when I spoke on my video blog about both Jupiter and Venus Stationing Direct on November 18th, 2010, “Jupiter station direct is like the manumission of a slave” . . . and it takes about three months to manifest. In addition, the Maya indicator of Venus stationing direct is in 10 days after the station, at heliacal rising, “heads will roll in the political arena” (by November 29th 2010) . . . and they have continued to roll ever since. And, they will do for quite some time. Here is the Venus Retrograde action:

Venus stationed direct at 27° Libra; the secondary progressed Moon for Egypt is now 27°52 Libra . . . this is an example of the “memory chain” of events. That the uprising is taking place while the p. Moon is in the same degree as the station direct of Venus was back in mid November, means that the p. Moon has “picked up” the memory of the dark Venus of the Maya underworld, rising dripping with the blood and bones of the dead. Venus reached heliacal rising at 29°36’, the degree of Egypt’s descendant, on November 28th, 2010.

The Descendant of Egypt is 29°18’ Libra, and by April 1, its progressed Moon will be 29°18’ Libra. The degree at which Venus reached heliacal rising (when it was first seen rising ahead of the sun, after stationing-direct)

Thus, we have a perfect linking to the memory chain of both celestial and terrestrial events, where Egypt and its people fell into step with the larger plan. The plan set in motion at the katarche, the inception, of the Republic in 1953.

n.b. In 8 – 9 months, when Saturn passes back over that same degree, there will be “events” which were seeded on that first day of the uprising.

(The significance of the Saturn return should not be lost on the USA since they too are having their Saturn return, in their 10th house (party in power, international standing in diplomacy and as an example for other countries) – USA’s Saturn return will happen three times, in fact - from the first return in November ’10, again by retrograde motion in April 2011, and the final passage of Saturn over its natal place in August 2011 (14° 48’ Libra).

In Soul-Sick Nation, Jessica Murray writes about the Saturn return of the USA:
“ . . . the ideal expression of Saturnine the tenth house is the ability to be solid role model. This placement can indicate . . . a leadership role based on a genuine understanding of responsibility: a reliable . . . statesman who respects the laws of his office.”

The Catalytic Converter

3. URANUS:
On “The Day of Wrath” Uranus was passing over 27°31 Pisces - for the last time of three passes over 18 months – this is a remarkably exact aspect in a square to Egypt’s Sun. Its transit with the retrograde cycles had been squaring Egypt’s’ natal Sun in Gemini from June/July 2009 through January 2011.

Uranus is associated with neurological and nervous systems. If we think of the group mind, or the collective brain, then this transit of Uranus has set up a “neurological kindling” process, which means that the country’s explosion is rather like a grand mal seizure! “Kindling” is a phenomenon in which there is a relatively profound alteration in the function of the brain, resulting from repeated electrical or chemical stimulation and culminating in the appearance of electrographic and behavioral convulsions whenever the stimulus is re-applied.

In a purely mundane interpretation the 11th house is the institution of the governing party (both known and secretive), the legislature, the civil service; as well, it rules the relationships that a country/entity has with other cultures and countries, such as foreign affairs, diplomatic relations, influence over other cultures, and being influenced by other cultures.

Uranus is transiting Egypt’s 11th house: groups, organizations based on similar/same ideologies, and tribal affinities. As said, the 11th house in a national horoscope has to do with laws, significantly, ones which are in alliance with other countries who are sympathetic or related by race, tribe, or ideology and are supportive - that is, the country’s friends and social network. Egypt is an Arab country, it is a Muslim population and it is the origin of the Muslim Brotherhood (1929). So, their friends are certainly not obscure or weak, but they too are rising in outrage.

Thus, I would see this revolution, to be pivotal in the global politik. This Zeitgeist is powerfully represented in the USA horoscope as well, with the very same transiting Pluto in opposition to its natal Venus (which is conjunct Egypt’s Mars).

Here is where we find the communication systems in Egypt in an uproar! Uranus rules social groups and networks. It also rules electronic transmission of information. Thus when the internet system was shut down for several days, in fits and starts, the uproar became deafening – the power of the Uranian network of electronic transmission and communication has become a primary monitoring tool for transparency and exposure of, well, of everything.

By shutting down internet access, Mubarak violated a tacit global law – one we may not have fully appreciated until this act of political suppression: freedom of information, transparency and freedom of speech is now a mandate in the collective consciousness of the world. It does not suit those who are in dark places with a lot to hide or situations in which a culture/country has something to fear . . . and also, we have Julian Assange’s case to bear upon us, and thank as well, during this Uranian Revolution! It is by no means over.
It is prick up your ears time! It’s time for serious consideration of how quickly a pot can boil when unwatched.

Uranus is urging breakdown and break through. It is the core of this revolutionary radicalizing of its youth culture (80%) but Uranus is a wild card. The Egyptian psyche is hearing the final toll of the alarm bell that has been ringing off its pillar for 18 months. And, will be “in process” for about 9-10 months. This is about the time the military has said there may be an election. The military are now in charge, and they say they will remain so for six months or “until an election is called.” Ok.

Into the Mythic:

4. NEPTUNE:
Neptune has been in a trine to the natal Sun of the Republic of Egypt in synchrony with the transit of Uranus square . . . They were both at 25° in April of 2009, and now both are making aspect to the Sun simultaneously at the time of the Day of Wrath and overthrow of the government.

While Uranus is at 27° of Pisces, Neptune is at 27° of Aquarius during the months Jan/Feb 2011 So two very unique worldviews are meeting in the cosmos, and collaborating in a complex which will alter forever the libido of the country. Its charisma, its fire, purpose, life force, the essential character, and the self-expression of the country are ‘ruled’ by the Sun. It also is how a country is seen by other countries . . . with its Sun in the third house in Gemini, Egypt has an exceptionally politically versatile relationship with the world, and has been dualistic in its inner policies, as well as appearing to be both sacred and secular. Its intellectual presence and country of letters and intelligentsia dates back to c.3200 BCE; and once held the greatest library in the world, the Library of Alexandria; it is renowned for its literary and academic rigor, its trade, mercantilism, internationalism and its tourism, all versatile traits of Gemini.

Neptune, though a recent planet compared to the ancient history of Egypt, is the expression of the ideals and the myths, the tales and the stories of the ancestors. Neptune is not a planet that clarifies anything it touches! Even a trine from transiting Neptune is still an uncertain and eclipsed consciousness. We never know what is actually going on under a Neptune transit, we are not aware of the illusory perception we have or are under. It has certainly played a role in the rise of idealism and sparked the imagination of the people, the youth, but it is also a potential illusion. That the dream can become a cloud of smoke, a veil of unreality. The idealism expressed in the first 18 days of the uprising, is not likely to be totally fulfilled, or fulfilling.

There is much still in the clouds and lacking clarity – the structure of the legislation, electoral system, hierarchy in leadership, all remain in hiatus, and being revealed only in cryptic terms. A collusion of illusion is part of a Neptune trine to the Sun.

As a planet that has some spiritual connotations, Egypt has always had a mystique about it, and one that is deeply spiritual. Neptune doesn’t rule religion - that is Jupiter’s domain, the “container” for spiritual drive results in mosques, cathedrals, synagogues and so on. So it is a Neptunian dream that fuels the Jupiterian desire for the container of Islam to be the stated religion of Egypt. It is an interesting country in which Judaism has had a turbulent history since the Ptolemaic era – census in 2004 showed the Jewish population was less than a hundred, down from c. 75,000 in 1948. Orthodox Christianity is in the form of the elegant Coptic sect, which is threaded through Arab countries worldwide. The powerful Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Cairo in 1929, is fast becoming more of a unified thought-form and action, and thus, today’s Egypt is a rich amalgam of middle-eastern, European and Mediterranean cultures.

The Neptune transit in trine to the Sun brings a new form of idealism to the fore . . . the “fashion” statement for Egypt’s new clothes is still shrouded in the Neptunian waters of the embryonic ideal. Neptune will not move firmly away from the Sun until February 2010, when it moves into Pisces for a thirteen-year sojourn. The ingress of an outer planet into the next sign seems active, historical tables have demonstrated that there is some force at work when there is a tropical sign shift, At which point, it will be significant what religion/s, ideals, and manifestation of its revolution that is now taking place.
In mundane astrology, Neptune has association with “the ideal society”, but to date, there appears to have never been one!

Conversely, the transit of Neptune to Egypt’s Sun could slowly begin to unveil any illusions or glamour that are associated with revolution, and bring a sharp reality check into being. Because of its association with delusion and illusion, Neptune also plays a role in war due to the passionate intensity of an idealistic people waging war under the aegis of self-righteousness and some of the worst “crimes” are based in ideology.

That Egypt is fundamentally an Arab nation, and Islamic, shows that its image - its persona, its numinosity during this time from 2011 to 2013 - can ignite a passion throughout the Arab world, in which there is already a gathering storm.

Arabs are each unique in their own lifestyle, culture, nature, appearance and goals. A western worldview has seriously mistaken “all Arabs are the same”. Absurd! All Muslims are not Arabs, nor are all Arabs Muslim. And, their diversity is profound. From Yemen to Saudi Arabia, you will find no similarities with the exception of the devotion to a common godhead. However, under this kind of stress, on the heels of years of dealing and pandering with the west, Arabs have learned some innovative ways new to them, and absorbed the western way doing business into the Arab ethos – as usual – and it will be interesting to see the synthesis. Interesting, as in the adage - “interesting times.”

By a twist of fate, and a building fascination for the Middle East, I had the unique experience of spending some time in the Middle East, in the Gulf, and visiting Yemen, Turkey and so on. I got a reasonable taste of the diversity of the Arabian character and nature. Being exceptionally empathic and highly tuned to the ethos of cultures, I gathered more in 7 months than some may in a hundred years. I felt and witnessed the Arabian passion, tension, intensity and trickster like shape-shifting; its love of drama, bad taste in furnishing and its love of guns, oil and infamous heroes; from Hummers in the Gulf to camels in the Yemen desert, all share some core power in their being.

‘Sitting on the western shore of the Persian Gulf, in the winter of 2006-07, staring out into the mist, wondering what I was doing, looking out as if to a sign in the sky…through the mist, beyond which was Iran (not an Arab population, but Persian, with a dominant Islamic faith (from there came Rumi and Sufism) I ‘knew’ the Arab nations would have to come together at some point rather soon. Because the Gulf States have been / are strongly USA affiliated, they too would have to join their tribe again, and they will unite. The Muslim Brotherhood is just that, a boy’s club. And, as such, will unite under a common banner.

It certainly puts the politically created Israel on the spot . . . being formed with the Moon/Pluto/Saturn/Mars stellium in Leo, and is squared by its Taurus Sun, Israel has been getting the current of this revolutionary Aquarius stellium from the lunation at 13° Aquarius Feb 3rd, and also in the last weeks of the Moon/Pluto/Saturn/Neptune transit in Aquarius! I think they must feeling the pain of isolation and increasing danger encroaching since that natal stellium straddles the sixth and seventh houses. Combined, those two houses rule the people in service, trade unions, civil servants, health of the country, and their poor people. The seventh house is the relationship with other societies and countries.

These relationships often are a result of the contents of the sixth house, and its matters – Israel has a Moon Pluto conjunction in that sixth house, and thus, Israel as an entity ahs a very difficult relationship with its “mother” and its safety and containment, MO/PL is an inextricable bond with the mother archetype, and also one which never gives a sense of true safety . . . so, Israel is tied to the motherland by power beyond its own control, and it isn’t even a safe container for its peoples or government! It is not a “real” country in that sense, but an annex, a creation, rather like what the “Partition” in India was; of East and West Pakistan in 1947. This is not a popular position to take in many places, but I am not taking a position - I am just stating the astrology. Astrology holds no opinion, value judgment, moral content or attitude. It follows the omniscient laws of nature and the cosmos, which is not an “opinion” but a truth. It is the hermeneutics of the logos of astrology that is the task.

Not a conclusion:

The Egyptian precedent – though inspired by the successful revolution in Tunisia - Jan 14 - will set a standard for the Arab nations in the short term and a radical new face in the long run.

The Gemini function in Egypt’s character and force will bring a two-edged sword. On one edge, we have Western Civilization and on the other, older tribal civilizations, the Semite tribes. Since there is no sense of unity between the ancient or modern Semitic tribes, we are seeing a tremendous potential for each of them, independent of the other, even though acting in reaction/response to each other, to sort out their own internal problems.

And, we see today, as I finish this mundane study, that Persian Iran is going the same way, toward change, but with greater violence and opposition from the Saturnian/Martial ruling forces, and thus, much larger stakes at hand for the protesters . . . they have a death penalty for people who oppose the body politic, and the violence there far exceeds the violence in the relatively “peaceful” uprising in Egypt.

They are an Aries nation, called the “Iran-Islamic Republic”, and Uranus has been conjoining its Mars/Mercury conjunction for a couple of years, finalizing now, with the pass of Uranus over 27°16’ Pisces Mercury – in the eight house, no less; so they too are having a collective brain seizure, but seemingly more deadly than Egypt. Talk of Iran and nuclear arms will definitely raise its head again, and the Uranus/8th house transit, coupled with Saturn Stationing Retrograde exactly conjunct Iran’s natal Pluto which is 18° Libra and Saturn stationed at 17° on Jan 25th. So the is more on that front in about 8 months, September/October 2011 as well. Thus, the WMD issue in Iran and the Plutonium/Uranium “development project” is likely to become a rather important “bargaining tool”.

And with Neptune coming to 3° Pisces it will transit Islamic Iran’s Venus, so their collective sense of worth, value and empowerment is simply continuing to dissolve.

In turn, Saudi Arabia, the wealthiest country in the Middle East, fears losing US support and relations – its biggest concern is likely to be the USA abandoning Mubarak, which would result in a very unstable situation for the Saudi royal family. As it is there is illness in the family, and King Abdullah is abroad for medical treatment, his Crown Prince, is also said to be ailing. But Saudi Arabia is a story in itself, but its stability does depend to a large degree on Iran – who is a staunch foe of Egypt!

Now, today, Islamic Iran is sending war ships through the Suez Canal, for the first time since Mubarak’s Leadership, thirty years ago. As a final tone of synchrony and diachrony, the deposed Shah of Iran fled into exile and asylum to Cairo – yes, February 11, 1979. Thirty-two years ago to the day!

Campion, Nicholas. The Book of World Horoscopes. Fig 090. P 105. Wessex Astrologer. 2004 edition. I have set this horoscope based on Egyptian time . . . 2 hrs later than GMT. Hence, the date/time difference on the chart, but is the same chart.

Sullivan,Erin. Retrograde Planets: Traversing the Inner Landscape. Weiser (reprint from Arkana, 1992). 2000. York Beach. Maine.
In the laws of the outer planets in retrograde, Pluto would station-direct at exactly the same degree 18 months later – Uranus and Neptune follow the law perfectly but Pluto’s 17° obliquity to the ecliptic “alters” the law because it appears to slow down, and extend the “3-passes in 18 months” pattern. Thus, as Pluto moves further into the Capricorn through Cancer zone, its orbit “elongates” against the backdrop of the zodiac, thus spending more time in those signs . . . Pluto is 11 years in Scorpio and 23 in Taurus, so we are heading into a period in which Pluto will take up to 5-6 years, and 5-6 transits of the same degree, to complete a full transit of a single degree in the zodiac.